Traveling from place to place has been the way of life for My Singer, My Songbird, a busking duo that was created when they met last March on the road. Together, Lullaby Wails on banjo and Hilrose on fiddle travel across the country, playing bluegrass and folk classics, as well as writing their own original tunes.
“You meet really interesting people while traveling and playing music,” says Hilrose, who goes only by her first name. “You meet the people who have the time and want to engage with others.”
As a stop on their never-ending journey, My Singer, My Songbird, is coming to Madison to perform at the North Street Cabaret on Feb. 15. Their performance is part of the Sugar Maple Concert series, which highlights American roots-style music.
Before they were My Singer, My Songbird, however, Hilrose and Wails each had their own experiences playing music and traveling.
Wails grew up around the Seattle area, where she experimented with various string instruments. On her first hitchhiking trip to New Orleans, she was introduced to claw hammer banjo, which is the main style she plays today. Since Wails was 18, she has been traveling and playing music. With the exception of some short-term gigs, busking has been her only source of income.
“My first time in New Orleans really hammered [busking] in as an option for me,” Wails says. “... it was my first time seeing so many people from a similar walk of life, not only busking to make ends meet, but even thriving and taking their performance very seriously.”
Hilrose grew up in both New Mexico and Milwaukee. During childhood, she traveled the country with her family, listening to Appalachian storytellers. She briefly picked up the Irish fiddle late in high school, but put it down after a couple years. It was hearing Appalachian music again as an adult that inspired her to start busking.
Hilrose also says her time living in Madison for a few years was influential. Particularly, getting to meet Dave Sewell, a State Street busker, had an impact on her. When he first heard Hilrose play, he made it clear she had plenty of room for improvement. But after traveling and performing on her own for a few months, Sewell complimented her skills when she returned to Madison — solidifying busking as her favorite kind of performance.
“Sometimes I don’t stay in a town for more than a day, other times I’ll stay in a town for a few months,” Hilrose says. “In my experience, living in one place is mostly the same from day to day … traveling life feels to me like more of a rollercoaster where you live in the extremes.”
Hilrose and Wails connected in New Orleans and began playing together on the streets of the French Quarter. Wails had just traveled south from Pittsburgh to spend the rest of the cold months there before heading to the Midwest. Hilrose had been in New Orleans for a few months on a trip down the east coast. A mutual friend put Wails and Hilrose in touch, and they started playing together.
At first, they focused on covers of folk and bluegrass classics, but eventually played one of Wails’ original songs and loved it. From there, they decided to continue traveling together, making original music and performing songs written by other mobile musicians.
Both Hilrose and Wails are excited for their performance at the North Street Cabaret in Madison. Hilrose says she hopes to see some familiar faces. Wails’ visit to Madison will be her first, and she is excited to perform in a new city. Either way, they hope their audience can of course, enjoy their music, but also gain some insight into what a life traveling and performing really looks like.
“It can be a very rough or fairly carefree way to live depending on the day,” Wails says, “but generally I would say it’s a very rewarding and fulfilling way to live.”
Celia Hiorns is an editorial intern at Madison Magazine.
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